Affiliation

The Tusken Cycler was the standard projectile weapon used by the Tusken Raiders of Tatooine in ranged combat. The cycler was an older design of rifle and fit into the slugthrower class, firing solid shots enveloped in energy, not blaster bolts. The weapon emitted a unique sound when fired, rather like a cross between a blaster and a musket.

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The Tusken Raiders generally modified their rifles, as the basic variant lacked the targeting tools necessary to make the rifle an effective sniping weapon. The weapons were normally modified with improved firing chambers for larger and more powerful slugs or the addition of scopes for better sniping. The rifles were similar to the Czerka produced 6-2Aug2 hunting rifle so it is possible that the raiders stole shipments of these weapons and modified them for their own use. The raiders liked nothing better than camping out near the Boonta Eve ClassicPodrace track during a race and taking pot shots at the pods as they zoomed past. The number of racers lost in this way was a testament to Tusken accuracy.

Due to the length of the barrel, the Cycler had better accuracy than more contemporary blaster designs, with the very best models being able to hit human-sized targets from distances up to 200-1000 meters. The rate of fire was fairly slow, as many of the rifles used a bolt action mechanism. As a result, Tusken Cyclers were not used at short ranges where a fast rate of fire was necessary. Rather, they were used to pick off enemies at long range. The Raiders retained the gaffi stick for dealing with enemies in close combat.